CREEDE HINSHAW: Heeding the call of ‘Deuteronomy Eight’

WEDDING VIDEO COMPANY WINS LAWSUIT: The U.S. Court of Appeals of the 8th Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling last month, supported the right of Telescope Media Group of St. Cloud, Minnesota, to refuse, out of deeply held religious principles, to film weddings for gay couples.

Depending on your political and theological viewpoint, you will either salute or decry this ruling. Two justices (appointed by presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump) sided with the business, while one justice (appointed by Barack Obama) sided with the state of Minnesota’s equal protection law.

This lawsuit, another chapter in trying to balance private religious faith with the public acceptance of all citizens, will not resolve this essentially unresolvable dilemma. An inevitable appeal will follow, and other lawsuits will emerge. The U.S. Supreme Court, which convenes next Tuesday, may also rule this term on some similarly high-profile lawsuits. To be continued.

A LICENSE PLATE MESSAGE: I saw a license plate holder unlike any I’d previously seen. It wasn’t promoting an auto dealer, scuba diving, piloting a plane or any hobby or business concern. The words framing the Georgia license plate simply announced “Deuteronomy Eight.” That got my curiosity up. Maybe most preachers know their Bible well enough to understand the reference, but I had to open my Bible to find the context.

In that chapter of Moses’ farewell speech, he is entreating the Israelites, who are preparing to enter the “land of milk and honey,” to remember who brought them there: “Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. … He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.” It’s a very inspiring chapter. Put this paper down for a few minutes and read it now.

POPE FRANCES VISITS MADAGASCAR: Pope Frances has received a good deal of criticism from some conservative leaders in Catholicism, but a recent visit to Africa was surely one that could be applauded roundly by his critics.

Last month the pontiff visited a Catholic ministry in Madagascar called Akamasoa (“good and faithful friend”). Begun by a Catholic priest 30 years ago, Pedro Opeka saw villagers who survived in urban Madagascar only by combing through a garbage dump. He helped them to begin a brick industry, and the villagers began to build their own community, raise their own homes, establish their own schools and find meaningful labor.

In a nation rich in natural resources, 75% of Madagascar’s citizens live on less than $2 per day. This ministry of the church is a beacon of hope in an impoverished nation, and a visit from the Pope must have been immensely encouraging. A photo of the visit was published recently in the Wall Street Journal, the caption quoting Pope Francis, who said that God hears the cry of the poor, that poverty is not inevitable and that the poor deserve the dignity of work. Amen and amen.